A family travels from Florida to New Zealand aboard their St Francis 50 catamaran

Ist day enroute to the Galapagos

Dave03/10/2008, Enroute Galapagos

Well I never got around to posting from the Las Perlas islands where we have been since Friday the 7th. We are now bound for the Galapagos with a nice 20 knot wind from behind. We hope it will last for at least 36 hours as that will help a lot with the fuel consumption.

We crossed the Panama Canal and it was quite an undertaking! Anyway we just arrived unharmed and very very happy to be on the other side (Pacific side)!!!! We are in a marina called Flamenco near Panama city where we are going to have a good night of sleep and we will see if we stay (not as nice as Shelter Bay Marina to say the least and very expensive, plus I think they do not like sailboat in general and in particular catamarans, they charge us double because of our width!).
Our transit began Friday 29th of February in Colon; we left the marina at 5:30pm with our three line handlers: A couple, Melissa and Buddy from Indigo Moon, and Roberto, a professional line handler. We arrived at the flats (the anchorage close to the canal's entrance) shortly after and the wait began. Our Advisor, Dalton was dropped off by a pilot boat at 7:00pm, we were scheduled at 7:30pm but actually did not get in the lock before 11:00pm!
We saw a "Mad Max sailboat" arriving full speed towards another sailboat at 90 deg and stopping to drop somebody at the last minute, backing up and steering around boats with a speed that was uncalled for, they had a few tires on the sides so we pray for the lucky one that would end up to do the transit with them! Guess who got lucky! We did, we had to "nest" with them: Initially you get to the entrance of the lock and then you tie up together, we saw that they had no lines (we had to use solely our lines) and four tires, two fenders in all! Luckily David went overboard with the tires (I thought) and we had lots of tires and 6 fenders which we ended to use all to be safe ( the other sailboat did not seem to care whatsoever, we learned later that the owner was not on board, it was a friend-captain just "helping" him by getting the boat across the canal). The tying up by itself was a chore, David ended up lending them a portable radio, they did not have one and their only fixed radio was inaccessible from the cockpit. Then he directed him to get into the wind, and WE went along his side to tie up. They were joking, relaxed, not caring, I did really not appreciate to have to deal with this type of cruisers that want to play it cool and relax, come under equipped (minimum requirement from the canal authority is 10 tires), I guess that is easy to be relaxed and not have a care in the world when neither of the boats are yours, it is very selfish and totally rude but that is who we had to deal with. Then we had to drive into the lock attached to each other straight and practice stopping in 20 knots of wind! By this time, the captain of the other boat was following David's orders, who was doing most of the driving with our twin motors. It was very stressful already and then we learned that we had to now get attached to a Mexican fishing boat already in the lock , to my horror, I look and see that the fishing boat had only 2 tires on the side ready to tie up!!!! I was ready to cry!!!! So we took 4 fenders back from the side where we were already attached with the sailboat and used it to fend against the fishing boat, I have to say, although the Mexican fishing boat was old (they knew they would not get any damage from another boat so all their tires were on the lock's wall side), they were very helpful and showed care, they even said "we know it is your house and it is important to you", I admired that. We were not totally unlucky because we had the best line handlers that you can get, from Roberto I expected it but Buddy and Melissa were a life saver, I would have not been able to do it with the kids, David was at the helm and could not help, he had to maneuver during the whole time. We also were lucky to wind up with a calm and very professional advisor-Pilot. Of course, the other sailboat crew was having a good time, chatting, lounging, and drinking beer. They did not even have to handle the lines for the other side; I guess in retrospect it was probably better.
Anyway we were finally ready! The first turbulence were pretty bad and the 7 of us (the 3 line handlers, me, the kids and the adviser as well) went to push against the fishing boat with all our might, one plastic around the tire burst and it was so loud , we thought it was a fender that had exploded! And I forgot to mention that in front of us in the lock, there was a huge ship! When the lock was totally filled up, Roberto told us to be now ready for the turbulence coming from the propeller of the Cargo boat leaving the lock for the next one, again the six of us (Dalton needed to be near David at the helm) pushed against the fishing boat. OK, one down, two to go! Each time we had to untie from the fishing boat, let him go first, which means stay put and straight (do not forget, we were still attached to the other sailboat then go forward and straight to the next lock ) and begin again the same procedure. On the second lock, the advisor told us that they were going to fill up the lock a little slower to minimize the turbulence; I guess they all heard the big noise of the plastic bag exploding and they probably thought something got damaged. Anyway we still had to fend off but it was much better... Then we were ready for the last one. Finally still attached to the sailboat, we exit the last lock and hurried to detach from each other, not only 3 seconds after we were detached, a huge wake came in and we had to push the motor full throttle to get away from each other without rubbing! Now we just had to motor another 20 minutes to the mooring were we would spend the night. We arrived, moored and had to watch the "Mad Max sailboat" moored on the same buoy, by now we were only on OK terms, we had enough of each other, there was never any yelling or swearing but we were done, tired and could not stand it anymore! We went to sleep at 1:30am. The advisor got picked up at 1pm and told us, see you at 6:30am! A new advisor came in the morning, Rodolfo, very nice as well, we left around 8:30am after a nice breakfast and cruise through the Gatun lake, it was beautiful and relaxing, we arrived to the first lock at 12:30, a little apprehensive but Rodolfo reassured us and he was right, on this side, the water in the lock is going down, so it is like a big bucket being emptied slowly, it is flat calm with no turbulence and he was absolutely right. We were attached to a big tourist boat this time, the "Mad Max" sailboat was attached to the Mexican fishing boat behind us. And ....we really enjoyed those three locks, no stress, a beautiful sun, we took pictures, laughed a lot, what a difference! We arrived in the pacific water at 2::00pm, our advisor left and we continued towards Flamenco marina where we spent the night. Melissa and Buddy left and we really thanked them, they did a fantastic job, they were maybe thinking to cross the canal but I think Melissa changed her mind. Time always heals everything, she will be ready later and I am sure that they will have a lot of tires hanging around their beautiful Lagoon cat! We went to sleep.... We were so so tired!!!!!!!!!!
Conclusion
1- Do not read this blog if you are ready to transit, I am sure it can go much easier than that (read the blog of the Mad Max sailboat, they thought it was a piece of cake!)
2- We were lucky because we had a great team on board (line handlers, advisers-pilots, the kids helped, and David did a fantastic job piloting through everything) Congratulation!
3- Life is great, we are on the Pacific!!!!!!!
PS: I forgot to say that Alec fell through a hatch just before arriving at the marina (everything is ok, just bruises) and our navigation instruments ceased to work on the last lock, but we are in the right place to get it fixed (Panama City!).

My dad went back to France 1 month ago and since then I have been working double. I finally read all about your adventures today. So many things to see, so many new peeple to meet, so many adventures to live ... forget about the stressful situations (an Panama was one of them!) and look at what you already did and you are not even half way done. What an experience for all of you. Wish I was there! Everything is ok here. I talk to Sabine every week. She took her family for a week in NY last wek and they are going in Washington for Easter. The girls are doing great and we are planning a "french" dinner for Easter at my house. We'll be reading your news together. Nic tried to chat with Emily but it did not work. Apparently she has to "invite" him ... whatever it means! And Sasha wanted to ask her about THE white face monkey, of course. Thinking of you, I'll talk to you later. Paola

Arrived in Colon

Dave02/20/2008, Colon, Panama

We arrived in Colon on Wednesday February 20th in the morning. We are staying at Shelter Bay Marina located on an abandoned US military base. Very nice with lots of other catamarans...Nathalie is taking over...
Well, we made it! We arrived last Wednesday in Colon and settled in a very nice marina called Shelter Bay marina just after the breaking wall of the entrance of the port of San Cristobal (the port of Colon). We had a beautiful sail both days 15 to 20 knots wings on wings, cannot get much better! We spent the night in Portobello which was interesting , not great holding , mainly in mud but a small town with a fort, a well-known church , and a busy road with colorful buses leaving every hours or so. The kids (and ourselves too) are really excited to get back to civilization, Wi-Fi, laundry, lots of other catamaran cruisers in this marina. We are going scheduled to transit on Friday 29thy of February. We met a couple on a lagoon catamaran who are going to be our line handlers and David is also going to get a firsthand experience this Wednesday on a big catamaran going this Wednesday. It is all working out pretty good. We went one time to Colon, mainly a grocery shopping trip. It is not the type of town that you can really get excited about, very dirty, noisy and dangerous but it is always interesting to see.
The kids met the daughters (12 and 14) of the dock master and they are off on their bike in the afternoon when they get back from school! The marina is located in a park which previously was a US military site. It got evacuated in 2000 and the building are now abandoned but the park is still beautiful and it is safe to ride your bike around and see white face monkeys and slugs. I managed to call mom with Skype and was really excited, I will use it more... so, that is it.... Waiting comfortably for Friday.EN ATTENTE DU TRANSIT DU CANAL DE PANAMA
Notre premiere grande etape est presque franchie!!! Nous sommes a Colon pres du port de San Cristobal ou les bateaux passent de la mer des caraibes a l'ocean pacifique depuis Presque 100 ans (ouverture du canal en 1914). C'est incroyable mais vrai !!! Nous sommes dans une tres jolie marina avec beaucoup d'autres bateaux, en particulier beaucoup de catamarans, sur un ancient site militaire americain abandonne en 2000. La marina est donc assez neuve , dans le parc et de ce fait, il n'y a pas de problem de securite ce qui est un souci a Colon. Les touristes sont avises de ne pas se deplacer a pied meme sur une courte distance et en pleine ville dans la journee, de ce fait il y a des taxis partout (peut-etre que cette insecurite est aussi un peu exageree a leur avantage) mais la course est tres peu chere, entre 2 et 3 dollars. Nous sommes alles reapprovisionner le bateau hier et avons trouve l'essentiel, pour le surplus, nous attendrons d'etre du cote pacifique ou la ville de Panama city offre tous les grands magasins comme aux USA ou l'Europe. (Alec se demande si on trouvera du nutella!!!!) Nous avons déjà notre date de transit, vendredi 29 Fevrier. David va aider un autre grand catamaran mercredi afin d'avoir un peu d'experience et savoir ce qui nous attend. La famille francaise a bord de ce catamaran va aussi traverser le pacifique, ils ont deux jeunes a bord de 17 et 20 ans,tres sympas, qui ont commence leur vie sur le bateau au meme age qu'Emilie et Alec. Nous profitons bien des avantages de la civilization dans celle belle marina (machine a laver, internet Wi-Fi, restaurant) et je suis sure que nous serons aussi heureux de quitter la civilization pour les Galapagos! A bientot......

Great photos! The fruit & Vegie boat came full of goodies! Joe has the dining room table spread out with his Panama & O'Vive photos! What's your Canal schedule? We Love you...Smooth Sails! Nancy

02/27/2008 | Matt and Linda

Wow guys, This is the first time we've checked into your blog and we're impressed with how fast you're moving. It seems like you just left Tavernier Key! Colon is a "pit" isn't it? But the Free Trade Zone is pretty interesting - we picked but cases and cases of beer and wine there (we hooked up with some other cruisers and bought together) - they delivered right to the boat!

And enjoy the transit ... we'll try and see if we can catch you on the webcam. Let us know if the date changes.

Have just been to Florida with my Mother and Brother to visit everyone, so sorry you weren't there. It looks as though you're having a wonderful voyage. I'll follow it with envy! Safe sailing. Love Davina x

We have been in the San Blas (also called Kuna Yala) since about a week. The Kuna Indians rule over those islands located west of Colon on the Atlantic side of Panama. They are a part of Panama but very attached to their independent status. They are the descendent of the Kuna Indians who lived there for centuries and were decimated by the Spanish invaders. However, they succeeded to keep their community alive to this day. They are about 55,000 Kunas left and their law does not allow inter marriage, they would be excluded if they do. It is a matriarchal community, the women are dressed beautifully , they love vibrant reddish colors and their molas (superposed tissues sawn together by hand with geometrical pattern) look beautiful on them; They wear strings of bead rolled around their lower-leg and lower-arms and sometimes a big gold bead in their nose. They love lots of red/pink blush on their cheeks and they are very small in size. It sure looks like they have no problem to maintain their population ratio, there are small children everywhere! We visited a few Kuna villages near the island of Porvenir and Cartisugdup. All houses are made of bamboo sticks and the roof is palm straw (like the chikihut), their streets inside the island are patted earth and extremely clean with touch of colors (flowers, banana trees...) but surprisingly, on the back of each house, on the water, is where they pile what they cannot get rid off along with the out-house right over the water, so much for the bay view! They are nice enough with the tourists but yet it is not what I imagined, of course they see us as a dollar sign, and sometimes want a dollar just to take their pictures, it is unfortunate and I do not want to agree to that yet. We bought some molas and beadwork, Kuna women come by canoe around the cruising boats and we were able to communicate in Spanish and have a conversation and fun with three women, it was a great moment! The weather in February is peculiar, often hazy which is not the best for snorkeling. There are some very nice reefs but it is mostly fished out (a lot less or smaller than the Bahamian waters). The outer islands are the attraction of the San Blas for me, beautiful white sandy inlet covered with palm trees and surrounded by turquoises waters, a dream!!!!The anchorage are pretty busy, always 12 to 15 boats but it is nice and fun! We went to a potluck last Monday on the East Hollandes key and there were some cruisers who were in the San Blas for years, they were very open and eager to help and give advices to the new cruisers in the area, I really appreciated this, it is not always the case and we really enjoyed our evening with everybody.